The Callisto Protocol Shipped Early, Missing Key Content, Director Reveals

The Callisto Protocol, a survival horror game, was shipped earlier than planned and had to drop some major parts, its director Glen Schofield said. Schofield, who also made the famous Dead Space, explained that his team was pushed to release the game by December 2022 instead of their planned 2023 date. 

This early release forced them to leave out a lot of cool stuff, including four bosses and two types of enemies players would have fought against.

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The Callisto Protocol Rushed, Key Parts Missed

It was not a good day for gamers trying to sink their teeth into the horror title everyone's been buzzing about, as The Callisto Protocol came out well ahead of its time, missing so much of its depth and richness. 

Glen Schofield, the game's director, claimed this accelerated launch was a shock to the development team at Striking Distance Studios.

Schofield, one of the directors of the highly acclaimed Dead Space series, took to Twitter to say that the game was initially due for release early in 2023. However, the publisher pressured them, so it was rushed out in December 2022.

This early push meant that significant content, including four major bosses and two enemy types, didn't make it into the final product. This was not the original plan when Schofield and his team set out to create The Callisto Protocol. 

Initially, they were granted the freedom to craft the game without strict time constraints. This all changed drastically, however, when the publisher insisted on going back to the original release date, which had the effect of slashing the development time.

Tough Year Shapes Future Plans

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the team really hard, further complicating the development process. Schofield shared that at certain times, entire departments were sick, so a lot remained unfinished. 

Further complicating things, 2021 was a year during which Schofield described "the great resignation," in which massive numbers of staff left for better remuneration elsewhere. This wave of staff exiting put additional strain on remaining team members and, with that, the complication of developing the game.

Although all this isn't exactly very positive news for Schofield, he still has hopes for the franchise in the future. He discusses one such sequel in which the protagonist of the first game, Jacob Lee, could return and bring forward another twist in the storyline. 

While The Callisto Protocol has not really taken off immediately, as was hoped, it still shows the potential to grow into a series that could fulfill the creative vision Schofield and his team have for it.

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